By SALINA POST
The Salina City Commission meeting will take place in–person at the City/County Building in Room 107 and via Zoom. Meetings can be viewed at the City of Salina YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/cityofSalinaKansas.
To participate via Zoom, citizens will need to use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89275984587.
The meeting can also be accessed by phone at 1-346-248-7799. Enter Meeting ID: 892 7598 4587 when prompted.
If citizens wish to speak, either during the public forum or when the mayor requests public comment on an item, citizens attending via Zoom must raise their hand so that the meeting host can allow them to speak. Those who attend the in-person meeting will have the opportunity to speak at the podium.
Citizens can also send written comments or questions to City Commissioners by visiting the City of Salina’s website at www.salina-ks.gov and using the “Email City Commission” icon on the home page.
To see the full meeting packet for today, click here.
Study Session
The City Commission will meet for a study session preceding today's meeting at 2:30 p.m. to discuss the purchasing of a new fire apparatus.
To view the study session packet click here.
Public Hearings
Public Hearing for Issuance of $35,000,000 Taxable Industrial Revenue Bonds and Approval of Resolution No. 23-8167 for Salina Destination Development, LLC.
Background:
Salina has faced an increasing need for additional housing to support workforce expansion and relocation of businesses to the City of Salina. The City of Salina has initiated numerous incentives to address this housing shortfall.
These incentives have included:
● Reinvestment Housing Incentive Districts (RHID-formerly known as Rural Housing Incentive Districts)
● Moderate Income Housing (MIH) program and financial grants, etc. to encourage and promote housing development.
As an additional incentive to develop housing in the Salina market and working closely with local legislators, the Kansas legislature awarded the City of Salina a 25 million dollar grant for housing that was predicated on providing housing to support additional jobs A request for proposal (RFP) for housing within the City of Salina was produced and the 25 million dollar grant from the state was utilized to encourage responses.
There were 13 respondents to the RFP for housing. The RFP did not mandate any specific location and respondents were able to propose their own designs and location for the housing units. Respondents to the RFP were then reviewed by City staff and respondents were ranked based on their proposals. 4 of the top-ranking respondents to the RFP had a follow up interview with the Salina City Commission.
Salina Destination Development LLC (SDD) was among the four respondents interviewed by the Salina City Commission and was selected by the City Commission as their preferred approach and staif were directed to initiate a Development Agreement (DA) with SDD.
SDD selected the parcel of land, shown on the map above, for their Phase 1 development. The City of Salina entered a DA on November 6th, 2023, with SDD. This DA for Phase 1 encompasses 250 1- and 2-bedroom apartments that will be located west of I-135 and Magnolia Road (see Maps).
For Phase 1 of this development with the 250 apartments, slightly over ½ ($13.0) million of this grant will be utilized for ground acquisition and to support the costs in constructing these apartments. 8 million of this 13 million will be reimbursement as apartments come online, 4 million will support infrastructure costs and 1 million will support land acquisition. The 1 million will support land acquisition for both Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Phase 1 will encompass an approximately $35 million capital investment and will generate 7 new permanent jobs to support the management, maintenance, and leasing of the apartments in the first year and 1 additional job in both Years two and three for a cumulative total of nine jobs.
These nine jobs would be separate and distinct from the jobs created during the construction of the apartments County approval is required if the property is not located within City boundaries. Annexation is proceeding for the land but will not be complete until mid-December at the earliest. As such, on November 28th the Salina County Commission will be asked to approve the issuance of IRBs for this project. This will remove the requirement to wait for approval until after annexation is complete
CONSENT AGENDA
Approve the minutes of the meeting of November 20, 2023.
Administration
Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter of recommendation communicating to the United States Department of Transportation the City of Salina's preferred airline selection, SkyWest under the Essential Air Service program.
Background:
Commercial air service in Salina is provided through the federal Essential Air Service Program (EAS) as approved by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT).
Locally, the Salina Airport Authority (SAA) is responsible for administering this process and working with the assigned airline. A rebidding of this service has taken place this year with bids ultimately being submitted on November 14.
Following the submission deadline and after reviewing the submittals, Tim Rogers, SAA Executive Director provided a memo summarizing SAA's review of the proposals and their recommendation.
The USDOT affords communities and stakeholders the opportunity to provide letters of support or recommendation as part of their selection process. Mr. Rogers has asked on behalf of the Salina Airport Authority that the City of Salina submit a letter of support for the Skywest proposal.
Other Administrative items
Approve Resolution No. 23-8169 declaring the necessity to acquire firefighting equipment, providing for the issuance of general obligation bonds of the City of Salina to pay for such equipment, and authorizing the publication of the Notice of Intent.
Approve Resolution No. 23-8168 authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Jennifer Dahlstrom to provide indigent counsel services for the Salina Municipal Court.
Development Business
Authorize City staff preparation of a special assessment engineering feasibility report for phase II of Lakeview Estates Additions No. 2 and 3.
Authorize City staff preparation of a special assessment engineering feasibility report for Phase I of Magnolia Hills Estates Addition No. 3.